Chapter 65

Jason waited until Heather had disappeared backstage in hopes that Ms. Bendon would be otherwise occupied, then looked around to ensure that Ms. Hollis was nowhere in the vicinity.

The temptation was to run to the door. Since accepting his role as the Harbingers' leader, he had done some reading in psychology. He had learned it was better to walk at a normal pace in a situation like this. A running figure always drew attention.

Nevertheless, he broke into a run once he had entered the main hallway. He found Seeger in his office. Seeger emerged as Jason approached. "Is everything all right, Mr. Conner?"

"I'm not sure you really want an honest answer to that, Mr. Seeger," said Jason.

"Then can you at least tell me how Miss Sovert fares?"

Jason did not want to go into the sordid details of Heather's predicament, but it was obvious to him that Seeger cared about her. "Ms. Bendon is not making things easy on her, let's put it that way."

Seeger's brows knitted together as he frowned. "I find this unconscionable. Laura is making a mockery of her position as Principal. This gross violation of trust is absolutely heinous."

"As much as I would agree with you, I have other things to worry about, and I need your help."

"Yes, anything."

"I want you to call Terri Hollis away from the party."

"For what purpose?"

"Invent something. Maybe you need to speak with her on some important matter. Then put her in a room alone and we'll do the rest."

Seeger frowned. "And just what is it you intend to do, Mr. Conner?"

"I would really prefer not to tell you, Mr. Seeger."

"I am sorry, but I refuse to be party to secrecy in this school any longer. If you wish my help, you will explain your plans."

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He wanted to invent a suitable lie, but his emotions were too chaotic. He was fighting against both time and panic.

"All right, but please realize I don't have time to give you every detail," said Jason. "We're going to have a sort of confrontation with Victor Mann. Ms. Hollis is his accomplice. Before we do anything, we need to turn Ms. Hollis away from Victor so he can't call on her as a resource."

"Is this school to be a battleground, Mr. Conner?"

"Actually, no." As much as I would have preferred that, Jason added in his head. "It will be outside the school grounds. But if we don't stop Ms. Hollis here, we won't get anywhere."

Seeger's face was etched into a mild scowl. "And by 'turning' Ms. Hollis, what exactly do you mean?"

Jason said nothing. He could not bring himself to form the words. He gave Seeger an earnest look.

Seeger's face darkened. "Can I assume by your stunningly unreassuring silence that you do not intend to perform this action by simple persuasion or debate?"

"Mr. Seeger, Ms. Hollis has been screwing with Heather -- in far more than a figurative sense -- for more than a week. Anything we have planned for her would be far less hurtful than what she's already done to Heather. At least we intend to make it temporary."

"You are asking me to condone the act of several students mind controlling a faculty member!" Seeger boomed. "My God, my own words sound insane to me!"

"I'm not asking you to condone anything, just don't interfere with it. Just get her to a room and leave her there."

"And if I refuse? Will you control me as well? Does anyone who does not follow along with your machinations receive that treatment?"

Jason frowned. "No. We don't do things like that. My own record at this school should be proof that I wouldn't do that sort of thing. I hate the fact that we have to do it to Ms. Hollis. If I had intended to do what you suggested, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Seeger let out a windy sigh, and his shoulders slumped. "Forgive me, Mr. Conner, my words were spoken in a moment of anger. I am frustrated by this 'ends justify the means' mentality."

"So am I, and if I had any other course of action, I would take it."

Seeger gave Jason a hopeful look. "If I agree, would this fix everything that's going wrong at this school?"

"Not by a long shot," said Jason. "But it will remove Victor Mann, free Gina Caligano from his control, and curb Terri Hollis. It will likely do nothing against Ms. Bendon, though."

Seeger nodded. "I fear I will have to deal with her myself eventually."

Jason wanted to warn him against the idea, but he had no time. He gave Seeger an expectant look, having no more words of persuasion.

"All right, Mr. Conner. I will summon Ms. Hollis to my office and then claim I need to use the rest room before I can speak with her. Would that be sufficient?"

"Try closing the door when you leave," said Jason, the relief obvious in his voice. "It will help us sneak up on her. And wait about..." He looked at his watch. " ... another fifteen minutes before fetching Ms. Hollis."

"Very well," said Seeger. "And, Mr. Conner, if you intend on taking Ms. Hollis away from the school when you are done, I would ask that you use the west entrance. I do not wish to see what you have wrought upon her."

"No problem, Mr. Seeger," said Jason.

After his initial encounter with them at the door, the Harbingers ceased to be a factor in Victor's equation concerning Gina.

Victor strolled near the refreshment tables, chatting with faculty as if he were no more than another self-appointed chaperon for the party. Many of the faculty had come in colorful costumes. He had not; he refused to pander to the modern concept of the Halloween holiday.

Victor understood his advantage, however; since others ignored the true nature of Halloween, they failed to discover any latent psychic talents they may possess. When odd occurrences happened on Halloween, they were dismissed as pranks, "ghosts," or drunken stupor.

Victor reasoned that this was where his mistake lay with Stephanie. He had been far too lenient and far too worried about her budding abilities. If he had pushed her harder, he could have achieved mastery over her will before her psychic powers could have come to the fore.

Victor turned towards the students dancing in the middle of the auditorium. He caught only a glimpse of Gina through her gaggle of admirers, but he saw her crystal clear in his mind. She moved not to the rhythm of the music, but of her own sensuality. Sweeping rolls of her hips, boldly strutting steps, generous shakes of her bosom, and the occasional toss of her head drew others to her as well as if Victor had reached into their minds himself.

Victor smiled. Slavery worked both ways. The owner was as trapped as the enslaved. Once acquired from Victor, a slave was rarely traded or sold. Victor never suffered for a return or a complaint. Only creating the slave was the difficult part.

Gina represented a new approach that would eliminate much of the work. Bred slaves would never acquire psychic powers. There would never be a repeat of Stephanie, never a failed enslavement, never a candidate that needed to be passed over because of some unsuitability.

Lydia's final disposition would have to wait until after Halloween. Charles had yet to follow his orders, but he refused to let his anger distract him. Victor would deal with Charles at that time as well. He would pick fresh, young blood for his next Prophet.

Victor turned to refill his cup from the water dispenser when he caught a flicker of gray out of the corner of his eye. His gaze turned in time to catch a glimpse of someone in a suit and tie vanishing into the throng.

One eyebrow rose. Was that Seeger?

Before he could pursue the question, the current song came to an end, and thunderous applause rose from the circle that had gathered around Gina and Brad, along with a few wolf-whistles. Seeger was of no concern to Victor. Everything was going right with Gina, and that was all that mattered.

Terri had scrutinized the Harbingers ever since Heather had returned to their midst. Her suspicion grew when she noticed Jason was absent and Laura was nowhere to be seen. A short time later, she spotted Laura alone near the stage, and Jason rejoined the Harbingers from the opposite direction.

She wanted to believe Laura's reassurances. The Harbingers had never moved against her in strength when she played with Heather in class, so why would they be capable of anything more now?

Terri had convinced herself that Richie was a fluke. Heather had mustered the same defense with the assistance of her friends. Terri realized she had been too overt; she had all but called her attack and gave Richie time to prepare. If she had persisted, she believed, she would have pushed him back.

Terri grew tired of the fruitless surveillance. She thought to discuss with Laura the arrangement concerning Heather once more. Laura was still getting more than she deserved; she intended to insist that she get Heather for two weeks in a row in compensation for relinquishing her claim for Halloween.

Terri was startled by a gruff voice right behind her. "Terri, I wish a moment of your time."

Terri gave Seeger a curious look. Seeger's face was locked in a scowl as his eyes glanced in annoyance at the stage and then at some of the students dancing nearby. Terri smirked. "Why, Seymour, I didn't think school parties were your thing."

"They are not," Seeger declared. "If I had any choice in the matter, I would be anywhere but here tonight. As it is, I am here, and an important matter needs your immediate attention. Please come to my office."

"Oh, you can't be serious!" Terri cried, uttering a laugh that was only half in jest. "It's after normal school hours. Try me again tomorrow."

"This cannot wait until tomorrow."

"Oh? Why not?"

Seeger hesitated. "Do not question me here in public. The matter is sensitive enough that I do not wish to discuss it among the students. Come to my office now."

"This is ridiculous. I will do no such thing."

"Terri, kindly stop being an ass and go with Seymour," said Laura as she walked up to them.

Terri spun around. "And what's this to you?"

Laura smiled. "Perhaps the fact that I'm the Principal. Seymour is the Vice Principal. We both outrank you, and we both want you to go to his office."

Seeger's eyebrows rose, but he said nothing.

Terri folded her arms. "Oh, and that's not suspicious at all, is it?"

"Really, your paranoia is getting on my nerves. If I had to guess, I would say this was about the obviously false accusation that was raised against you concerning inappropriate contact with a student." Laura looked at Seeger. "Isn't that right, Seymour?"

Seeger's eyes burned. "Yes, that is exactly what it is," he said in a low voice.

Terri's mouth dropped open. "Wait a minute, what?!"

"Stop panicking," Laura snapped. "This is to clear that accusation. Seymour just has to take your statement, that's all."

"And that can't wait until tomorrow?"

"I must finish the paperwork this evening for tomorrow's outgoing mail," said Seeger. "I do not want to risk missing the deadline."

"Surely you don't want your name appearing on any nasty reports sent to the Board, do you?" Laura said.

"I think this is utterly stupid," said Terri. "Laura, this better not be some underhanded move to ... Laura? ... Laura!"

Laura had walked away, and responded to Terri's tirade with a dismissive wave of her hand without turning around.

"Bitch," Terri muttered under her breath. She gave Seeger a sharp look and marched towards the auditorium entrance.

Jason jogged up to the other Harbingers. "Okay, I just saw Ms. Hollis heading towards the exit with Mr. Seeger. We wait about a minute, then we go to Seeger's office. That's where she'll be."

"Okay, Jason, but what exactly do we do?" Melinda asked.

"Yeah, I was wonderin' that myself," said Ned. "We ain't got the Bounteous Book o' Bedazzlement with us. Ya left it in the van."

"I know," Jason said. "We're going to take the direct approach: our will against hers."

"What, you mean we all just think at her?" Heather asked.

"Something like that, but not all of us at once. Besides being clumsy, we might hurt her. I don't want to take any chances that we'll do some sort of damage to her mind. So we start off with one of us and then keep adding the others one at a time."

Ned nodded. "Yeah, I gotcha. Okay, who goes first?"

Jason hesitated a moment. "Cassie should go first."

Cassie's eyes widened. "Wait, what? Me? But what can I--?"

"Because you can affect her emotions."

"Only in theory, Jason, I've never tried it. If anything, I avoid trying it!"

"Well, you're going to have to try tonight."

Cassie sighed. "What emotion do you want me to give her?"

"Something to make her subdued. Feelings of submissiveness, maybe."

"That's really vague. I'm not sure I can do it."

"Just try, Cassie, please." Jason turned to Heather. "You go next."

Heather looked surprised at first. "Wait, I think I get it. You want me to make her horny, don't you?"

"Yes, but don't pour it on all at once. Work in tandem with Cassie."

"Fuck, man, this is the greatest plan I've ever heard," Richie said with a grin. "C'mon, dude, get to me, what do I do? I want a piece of her, too!"

"Actually, that's where you come in, Richie," said Jason. "You're the only one of the group that can directly control people. You get to lead the final charge. You try to get control of her while Cassie and Heather turn it up a notch. Hopefully she'll be too overwhelmed to fight back."

Richie balled a hand into a fist and drove it into his other palm. "Oh yeah, I'm all over that!"

"Richie, be careful!" Cassie said. "Don't push too hard or too fast!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, okay? I ain't gonna harm a single blonde brain cell of hers."

"But what's left for me, Ned, and Diane?" Melinda said.

"Yes, Master, what do you wish me to do?" Diane asked.

"And Debby," Cassie said. "What about her?"

"She's back in the van," Melinda said. "How's she going to help?"

"Distance doesn't matter over the link."

Jason turned to Ned. "Ned, you work well with Richie. Help him if he needs to push harder. Melinda, Diane, you two are on defense with Debby."

Melinda gaped at Jason. "Defense? Are you fucking nuts?!"

Jason flinched, but managed not to allow doubt or uncertainty to show in his eyes. "What's the matter?"

"I'm the one who they took, remember? How the hell do you expect me to stand up to that again?"

Jason heard the panic in her voice. He was sure she had visions of becoming Terri's sex toy. He had not anticipated her reluctance, but he had no other role for her. He decided he had to reveal his ace-in-the-hole.

To Melinda's indignant sigh and stamp of her foot, Jason shepherded the Harbingers out of the auditorium. Once they were in the hallway, Jason turned to the others and lowered his voice. "Debby has the ability to resist Victor's power."

"What?!" Melinda cried.

"Jesus, Melinda, shut up!" Heather hissed.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell us this before?!" Melinda whisper-shouted at Jason.

"I didn't know until tonight, and I thought up this plan only after we arrived at the party," Jason said. "But she's not sure she can hold out against a real attack, so that's where you and Diane have to help her. I'm hoping we get Ms. Hollis subdued fast enough that she can't really hit us that hard."

"Okay, but how do we tell Mrs. Radson?" Melinda asked.

"She should sense it over the link," Cassie said. "At least I hope she does."

"Heads-up!" Ned said.

Seeger marched towards them, a deep frown creasing his face. "I have done what you requested of me," he said, passing them without stopping or looking towards them. "Do not come find me anymore tonight, I do not wish to know what you have wrought."

They watched until he disappeared down a side corridor. A door slammed shut a few moments later, echoing in the empty halls.

"Well, ain't he a ray o' sunshine," Ned muttered.

"All right, let's go do this," Jason said. He started walking towards the faculty area, the other Harbingers falling into step behind him.

Terri sighed and spun herself back and forth in the chair before Seeger's desk, her witch hat askew as she propped her head against her hand, the elbow perched on the hand rest. She stopped after a few minutes and crossed her legs as she glanced at the closed door.

She looked at her watch. As she tipped her head, her hat tumbled from her head. Muttering a curse, she snatched it before it could fall to the floor, motioned to put it back on her head, and instead threw it atop Seeger's desk. She ran her hands through her disheveled hair to free her matted locks.

Her hand thumped to the top of the desk, and she stood up. "I've had enough of this, he can do his own damn paperwork," she muttered, and was to the door in several long strides.

Her hand gripped the doorknob but did not turn it. She glanced back at the desk. Seeger was her superior, and she would be defying him if she left. That would not sit well with him at all.

Terri frowned. He did not have any control over her despite his title; her command of Heather's reality was proof. But she did not need any trouble with the school board.

Her hand loosened and fell away. She marched across the room and fell into the chair, folding her arms. "Fine, I'll give him a few more minutes."

Terri spun herself in the chair again, and some of her anger faded. She wondered if she were making a big deal over nothing. It was her duty to follow the school regulations, including the paperwork.

She glanced at the door again, her eyes less icy and impatient. She did not have to get back to the party anytime soon. She had already submitted... relinquished control of the party to Laura. Laura was the Principal. She was in control, not Terri.

She stopped turning the seat. Her hips shifted to one side.

She wanted to remain angry with Laura for taking Heather from her for the night, but she supposed it was for the best. It had let her get away from the party, so she could properly obey... follow the school regulations...

Terri squirmed and blinked. What was she just thinking?

She crossed her legs again, and her pussy flashed hot, moisture squeezing from her folds and into her panties. Why was she aroused? It must have been her thoughts about Heather. That would be enough to make anyone horny.

Terri looked at her watch again and uncrossed her legs. She hoped Seeger would return soon to command ... to tell her what to do. With the paperwork.

A long, husky sigh passed Terri's lips. Her thighs spread, almost of their own accord as if unable to contain the sudden heat trapped between them. Terri took a deep breath, both mystified and embarrassed at her abrupt surge of lust.

She struggled to control herself. Seeger would not be at all pleased with her if he saw her like this. No one had told her that she was allowed to get so excited, and she was not supposed to masturbate without permission...

Terri snatched her hand from her crotch. Her teeth clenched, the lust in her eyes clouded with growing fury. Her pussy aching and wet, she trembled as she rose from her chair and started for the door.

"You little bastards, " she growled.